Historical Facts
From ancient times there are many references to the presence of the olive tree in ancient Greece. According to mythology, the Goddess Athena was born in Crete at the mouth of the river Triton and gave the sacred olive tree to the island as a sign of gratitude.For the Greeks, olive oil is a symbol of wisdom, peace, beauty, rebirth and eternity, and this is because the olive tree can dry up and be reborn. The cultivation of the olive began in the Neolithic era (7000-3500 BC) mainly in southern Crete and since then the olive fruit was included in the basic food items of the Cretans.
From Minoan Crete, the contribution of the olive tree to the economy of the island is important and from there it is subsequently transferred to the economy and life of Mycenaean Greece. We have information about the olive and the oil from wall paintings, painted vases, gold jewelry and texts in linear A & B. From many findings it is obvious that the olive and the oil were extremely used by the Cretans, for their religion, for their nutritional and pharmaceutical needs and of course for commercial reasons and exports.
The Cretan Olive Grove Through the Centuries
Just like then, thousands of years ago, so today the olive still dominates the island and offers its valuable benefits not only to its inhabitants but also to the whole world in many different ways. As a fruit that is a food product (raw, cooked, processed or unprocessed), as a juice (olive oil) that is used as a food product, for pharmaceutical, cosmetic and cleaning use (soap) and finally as a tree that is a raw material for tools and constructions, heating, material of art and expression.
Greece is the third largest olive oil producing country in the world. Today, 65% of the agricultural area of the island is olive groves, which include at least 35 million trees. About 1/3 of the domestic production is produced in Crete, of which 90% belongs to the extra virgin category. The quality characteristics of Cretan olive oil are due to the mild climate that prevails on the island, especially during the autumn and winter period (the period when the oil is created in the fruit), the special soil conditions that favor cultivation as well as the varieties that thrive on the island. Also the harvesting and transportation of the olive fruit takes place in a short period of time and with the help of the modern extraction machines used by olive mills today in Crete, high quality olive oil is produced.
